Eastern European Easter foods, Ethnic Groceries in Cleveland,
Ohio April 17, 2014
Holidays usually bring out the best in food traditions, and
that’s especially true of Easter among most Eastern European cultures. This
week, I had the good fortune to spend time in the Cleveland, Ohio area—Parma
Heights and Parma, to be specific, where there are well established Ukrainian,
Polish, and other ethnic communities. Beginning as early as the late 1800s and
early 1900s, these neighborhoods supported grocery stores, restaurants, social
halls, and churches that continued many food customs from the “old world.”
Today, the commercial food establishments welcome customers from a multiplicity
of ethnicities and varieties of “American-ness,” but also frequently serve as social
centers for individuals sharing that ethnic heritage.
This was very evident on the Wednesday before Easter. Grocery
stores were packed with customers purchasing special meats, breads, and other
treats for the up-coming holiday. The festive atmosphere made the shopping
hectic, but it was obvious that people enjoyed the hustle and bustle. The
crowds even overflowed to the sidewalk at State Meats on State Road in the
Ukrainian Village in Parma, with people seated on benches or standing and
chatting while they waited their turn to go inside to select the special hams
and sausages used for the holiday. The small bakery down the street, Kolos
Bakery, similarly was packed, and the owners looking harried—but pleasantly so.
Their card states that they speak English, Ukrainian, Armenian, Russian, and
Hebrew, refecting the rich mix of cultures that intermingle in these
neighborhoods—and around food. Further down State Road, the LVIV International
Food Store featured Ukrainian Easter cakes, meats, sugar lambs and rabbits, and
decorated eggs along with their usual colorful displays of arts, crafts,
clothing, and food.
Another Ukrainian grocery, the Ukrainian Village food and
Deli, brought that home even more. The owner, Irena, graciously gave me an
interview in the morning before the rush of customers began. She came to the
U.S. thirteen years ago after running a business in the Ukraine for ten years.
She opened her own grocery store partly because she wanted to work with
something she knows—food—but also because she wanted to have her own business.
Initially, the store was a way to make a living, but over the years, it has
developed into much more—a place where customers can feel comfortable learning
about new foods as well as run into friends and develop a sense of community. Irena does that partly by hiring employees
who can speak Ukrainian and English (and frequently other languages as well;
she speaks Polish, Russian, and some Romanian, along with English and her
native Ukrainian). She also actively supports the surrounding community,
creating jobs and donating items to local ethnic churches. Which brings us back
to the holiday foods.
One of the traditions for many Catholic eastern Europeans is
the blessing of food to be eaten for the Easter holiday. Baskets are prepared,
usually containing special breads, hard-boiled eggs (plain and elaborately
decorated), meats (frequently lamb as a symbol of Christ, pork sausages, or
hams), maybe butter shaped into lambs, and other treats. The baskets are then
blessed at church on the Saturday preceding Easter Sunday. Each ethnicity—and
each family and regional culture—has their own variations. These variations are
part of the richness of these traditions and suggest something of how food
allows us to celebrate unity while also recognize diversity. In very practical
terms, it means there’s something for everyone’s taste, palate, and
circumstances.
Ukrainian Easter Cake, sugar lamb, some packets of designs
to put on eggs, and a Polish Easter cake.
